Multiple marginalization and gender-based violence in post-conflict settings: The experiences of IDPs in Zamboanga City

• Main Author: Veloso, Diana Therese M.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Gender-based violence > Philippines > Zamboanga City; Internally displaced persons > Philippines > Zamboanga City; Minorities > Philippines > Zamboanga City; Gender and Sexuality
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/13076
• Institution: De La Salle University

This paper examines the heightened risk for gender-based violence among racial and ethnic minorities in post-conflict settings, using the situation of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Zamboanga City as a case in point. The researcher examines the dynamics of violence from a gendered perspective and illuminates cultural trends that reinforce and shape the experience of gender-based violence. Drawing upon interviews and focus group discussions with IDPs and duty-bearers, the researcher discusses the nuances in women’s and men’s experiences of private and community and/or statesponsored violence as IDPs from predominantly minority groups. The researcher exposes the numerous incidences of lawlessness and violence affecting IDPs in Zamboanga, especially during the early months following the September 2013 siege perpetuated by a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the vulnerability of women and girls to intimate partner violence, prostitution, sexual harassment, and trafficking, and the covert attempts to recruit young men into extremist groups. This paper also highlights women’s continued vulnerability to domestic violence and other forms of abuse after their relocation to transitory sites or (in limited cases) permanent shelters, and the vulnerability of youth to bullying and victimization due to their ethnic identity. The researcher also highlights the link between racial, ethnic, gender, and social class inequality in the Philippines and the continued vulnerability of IDPs due to their dismal living conditions after the siege, and their neglect due to limited interventions by government authorities. This paper highlights the intersections between private and public forms of gender-based violence in the experiences of IDPs belonging to minority groups, and the local and international responses to their situation.